Everest is a graveyard of egos. It’s also a place where history gets simplified into a single trivia answer that most kids learn in grade school. If you ask a random person on the street who was the first man to climb Everest, they’ll probably bark out "Sir Edmund Hillary" before you even finish the sentence. And they aren’t wrong. Not exactly. But if you really dig into the dust of the 1953 expedition—and the ghost stories from 1924—the "first" becomes a story about a team, a partnership, and a massive question mark that still haunts the North Face.
Hillary didn't just wake up one day and stroll to the top of the world. It was May 29, 1953. 11:30 a.m. He was standing on a ridge that now bears his name, looking at the final stretch of snow. Beside him was Tenzing Norgay.
People always forget that part. Or they treat Norgay as an assistant. Honestly, that’s a mistake. Without Norgay’s veteran experience and sheer physical grit, Hillary likely would have been just another name on a long list of "almosts." They reached the summit together. They stood at 29,032 feet, the highest points of a planet that had spent decades trying to kill anyone who dared to touch its ceiling.
The 1953 Expedition: A Military-Grade Effort
The 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition wasn't some ragtag group of hikers. It was a massive, quasi-military operation led by Colonel John Hunt. We're talking about a small army. There were 350 porters, 20 Sherpas, and literal tons of supplies. This was the British Empire’s last "great" colonial-era adventure. They had failed repeatedly in the 1920s and 30s. Then the Swiss almost beat them to it in 1952. The pressure was suffocating.
Hillary was a beekeeper from New Zealand. He had lungs like a bellows. Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa who had been on more Everest expeditions than almost anyone alive. They weren't even the first team chosen for the summit push.
The first pair failed
Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans were the first ones sent to the top. They got within 300 feet. Can you imagine? Being that close to eternal fame and having to turn back because your oxygen equipment is failing and you’re literally coughing up your own throat? They retreated.
That left Hillary and Norgay.
On the morning of the 29th, they woke up in a tiny tent at 27,900 feet. It was freezing. Hillary found his boots were frozen solid. He had to spend two hours heating them over a primus stove. Think about that the next time you complain about your car taking five minutes to warm up. They set out at 6:30 a.m. They moved like ghosts through the "Death Zone."
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When they finally hit the top, they didn't give a big speech. They shook hands. Norgay gave Hillary a hug. Hillary took a photo of Tenzing holding his ice axe with the flags of Britain, Nepal, the UN, and India.
Wait, where is the photo of Hillary? There isn't one. Tenzing didn't know how to use a camera, and Hillary didn't think it was important to teach him at nearly 30,000 feet while their brains were starving for oxygen. So, the only visual proof of the first summit is a photo of the "second" man.
The Mallory and Irvine Mystery
We have to talk about George Mallory. You can’t discuss who was the first man to climb Everest without acknowledging the guy who might have done it 29 years before Hillary was even in the picture.
In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanished into the clouds near the summit. Mallory was the rock star of the climbing world. When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he famously said, "Because it is there."
In 1999, Conrad Anker found Mallory’s body. It was preserved by the cold, bleached white by the sun, looking like a marble statue half-buried in the scree. Mallory had severe rope burn marks, suggesting he fell. But here is the kicker: he had promised his wife he would leave her photo on the summit. When they found his body, his wallet was there, but the photo was gone.
Did they make it?
Most experts, like Reinhold Messner (the first guy to climb it without supplemental oxygen), think they didn't. The "Second Step" is a technical rock wall near the top that would have been almost impossible for Mallory to climb with the primitive gear of 1924. But some still believe. Until someone finds Irvine’s body and the Kodak camera he was carrying, we will never know for sure.
If that camera is ever found and the film can be developed, it could rewrite history. It would turn Hillary and Norgay into the "second" men. But for now, the record books stay as they are.
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Life After the Peak
Hillary didn't just go home and sit on his porch. He became a global icon. But he spent most of his life giving back to the Himalayas. He founded the Himalayan Trust, building schools and hospitals for the Sherpa people. He cared more about the people than the mountain.
Tenzing Norgay’s life was more complicated. He was pulled in every direction by political forces. India and Nepal both wanted to claim him as their own hero. He eventually became the director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
There was a lot of debate back then about who actually stepped on the summit first. Was it the Westerner or the Sherpa? The media was obsessed with it. For years, they both said they reached it "almost simultaneously."
Finally, in his autobiography, Tenzing admitted Hillary took the first step. Does it matter? Not really. In high-altitude mountaineering, you are a single unit. If the rope breaks, you both die. If the summit is reached, you both reached it.
Why it's harder now than in 1953
Nowadays, Everest is a circus. You've probably seen the photos of the "human snake"—hundreds of climbers standing in line at the Hillary Step, waiting for their turn to take a selfie. It’s weirdly corporate. People pay $60,000 to $100,000 to be guided to the top.
But when Hillary and Norgay did it, they were walking into the unknown. They didn't know if their lungs would explode or if the atmosphere was even breathable at that height. They were the astronauts of their time.
The Gear Difference
- 1953: Heavy wool layers, windproof cotton, primitive oxygen sets that weighed a ton, and boots that literally froze solid.
- Today: Ultralight down suits, GPS tracking, pre-set ladders over crevasses, and high-flow oxygen systems.
Even with the gear, the mountain still kills. The "Green Boots" body and "Sleeping Beauty" are grim reminders that the path Hillary forged is still a graveyard.
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The Nuance of the "First"
When you look at who was the first man to climb Everest, you’re really looking at a triumph of logistics and cross-cultural partnership. It wasn't a solo act. It was a team of British scientists, New Zealand climbers, and Sherpa experts.
If you're planning on researching this further, don't just look at the summit photo. Look at the maps of the Khumbu Icefall. Look at the stories of the 1922 expedition where seven Sherpas died in an avalanche. The "first" summit was built on thirty years of failure and death.
What you can learn from the 1953 climb:
- Preparation is everything. Hunt’s team spent months planning the logistics. They didn't just wing it.
- Partnership over ego. Hillary and Tenzing stayed friends for life. They didn't let the "who was first" debate ruin their bond.
- Respect the mountain. Even after the summit, Hillary remained humble. He knew he didn't "conquer" Everest; the mountain just let him stay for fifteen minutes.
Moving Forward: Your Next Steps
If you're fascinated by the history of Everest, don't stop at a Wikipedia summary.
Go read The Dream of Enlightenment or, better yet, Sir Edmund Hillary's own account in High Adventure. It’s surprisingly gritty and lacks the polish of modern ghostwritten memoirs. If you want the Sherpa perspective, which is often sidelined, look for Man of Everest (the autobiography of Tenzing Norgay).
If you ever find yourself in Nepal, visit the Khumjung School. It’s one of the schools Hillary built. It’ll give you a much better sense of the man than any grainy summit photo ever could. Understanding the "first" man to climb Everest is really about understanding the drive to see what’s over the next ridge, even when every instinct tells you to turn back.
Keep exploring the nuances of 1920s mountaineering compared to the 1950s. The shift from "exploration" to "conquest" is where the real story lies. Check out the archives of the Royal Geographical Society for the original maps and photos from the Hunt expedition. Seeing the hand-drawn routes through the Western Cwm makes the achievement feel a lot more real—and a lot more terrifying.